Protein powders, energy mixes, supplements, and other sport nutritional products, are frequently utilized in conjunction with regular exercise to promote a healthy lifestyle. Accordingly, consumers often purchase large containers or mixes, wherein many such powders or drink mixes must be combined with water or other suitable liquids to facilitate ingestion and digestion of same. However, despite the economical advantages and general long-term product supply afforded by such bulk purchases, the impracticalities and inconveniences associated with the use of such large containers of powders or mixes, in view of preferred consumer use, present noticeable disadvantages.
Specifically, many individuals utilize public gyms or fitness centers, wherein immediately following an exercise session, many such individuals prefer to ingest a favorite powdered sports drink for optimal bodily absorption. Accordingly, these individuals are often forced to inconveniently tote the large containers of powder to their fitness center for subsequent use, or pre-bag or pre-package smaller portions thereof prior to leaving home.
Additionally, because such powders must be combined with a liquid, consumers must undertake the time-consuming and often messy process of properly combining and mixing the powder with a glass or bottle of water. That is, when utilizing a glass, or other wide-mouthed container, of water, the consumer must measure and deposit the appropriate amount of sports powder within the glass and, thereafter, shake, stir or otherwise fully mix the combined dry and liquid contents. In doing so, powder and/or powder-liquid mix often spills from the wide mouth of the glass, resulting not only in mess and partial loss of product, but a potentially significant reduction in the manufacturer's recommended serving size. This latter disadvantage becomes particularly problematic when the consumer has painstakingly pre-measured and bagged or packed a limited amount of sports powder for use at his/her fitness center, leaving the much larger container of sports powder at his/her residence.
To avoid the spillage problems associated with mixing powdered sports drinks in wide-mouthed containers of water, many consumers will utilize a conventional personal-sized bottle of water, which typically have a relatively diametrically smaller mouth. In use, the bottle cap is threadably engaged to the bottle mouth following deposit of the sports powder therethrough; thus, enabling rapid and forcefully shaking and uniform mixture of the powder-water contents of the bottle, without risk of leakage or spillage of same. However, in utilizing such water bottles alone, consumers must attempt to feed or funnel the powder through the relatively narrow mouth of the bottle, which, more often than not, results in spillage of the sports powder.
As such, in an attempt to overcome the disadvantages associated with the foregoing system of powdered sports drink preparation, many available devices provide for a mixing cap engageable to a liquid container, wherein the mixing cap enables introduction of a dry or liquid ingredient into the communicating bottle for mixture with the liquid contents thereof.
The control of proper concentrations of mixtures in the field of food and beverage for proper tastes, nutrition and/or calorie counting is broad and a variety of mixture methods and container styles are used. In most cases the mixture is controlled in a pre-market form where the consumer receives a pre-dispensed concentration and has little or no control of the concentration at the point of consumption. In the beverage industry a large market of various flavors, calorie options, and nutritional values exists and the consumer is left to choose from this wide variety and through trial and error determine the most satisfactory concentrations and flavors for their own personal needs. The consumer in most instances has little or no control over the amount of sugar or calories, or the particular flavoring or concentration of flavoring that is added to their soda, sports drink or other beverage of their choice. The consumer is left to adapt to the taste of the pre-market product and/or accept the unwanted calories or non-nutritional ingredients.
Flavoring mixtures are pre-made and mixed with water or carbonated water and sports, soda or energy drink containers are filled with these mixtures and marketed to the consumer through a number of auspicious methodologies to sell the consumer on the unique formulas of one specific beverage compared to another, but fail to leave to the consumer control of concentrations within the purchased and consumed beverage. The control of calories or nutritious content is also not easily available to the consumer at the point of consumption where the consumer may want to add specific vitamins and or electrolytes, or reduce the concentration of sugary syrup flavorings. The consumer must very often settle by consuming a low or no calorie beverage, that does not provide the desired nutritional content. While the choices of off the shelf products that have a water or carbonated water base are numerous with a wide variety of flavorings and calorie options, it is still left to the consumer to pick from this variety to determine a suitable flavor, an acceptable calorie level, or a mix of satisfactory and beneficial nutrients to meet the needs of a particular consumer.
In the medical field there are various devices that control dosage levels of medications as prescribed and manipulated by a doctor or medical professional, but outside of the medical field, there are not simple mechanisms that can dispense a broad range of liquid mixtures in a water bottle or container and allow the consumer to easily manipulate the taste, or nutritional benefits of such over-the-counter soft drinks, energy drinks and sport drinks.